Fruits Baskets

Title: Fruits Baskets
Author: Natsuki Takaya
Illustrated: Natsuki Takaya
Published: TokyoPop, Japan
Date: February 10, 2004
Summary: Tohru Honda was an orphan when one day fate kicked her out of the house and on to land belonging to the mysterious Sohma family. After stumbling upon the teenage squatter, the Sohmas invite Tohru to stay in their house in exchange for cooking and cleaning. Everything goes well until she discovers the Sohma family's secret, when hugged by members of the opposite sex, they turn into their Chinese Zodiac animal!
Age Level: Young Adult (14 and up)
Strengths: This is a very funny story because of its characters. The main character, Tohru is a happy girl and at first lived in a tent. Her mother died when she was in junior high but she always had a happy attitude about the things around her. What is interesting is that not only is the dialogue a good way to see what the character's personalities are like, you also have some of their thoughts. At first, Tohru's thoughts are in a square like frame, either alone, or on the same image without the frame around it. Soon, the series transfers from Tohru's thoughts to the other character's thoughts. I like how the Souhma's family (the family that Tohru is living with) all has different personality traits that resembled the animal they turn into. For example, legend says that there was a great feast for the zodiac animals. The rat told the cat that the feast was held on another day, and so the cat didn't come. It said that the cat never forgave the mouse and was angry ever since (because he was alone). Kyo Souhma turns into "the cat" from the story when hugged and he is very closed up, angry, and yells at everyone he knows. He especially hates Yuki, who turns into a rat when hugged. Yuki is more calm and quiet. Kyo always challenges him and says that he will beat Yuki one day (in karate). Though these characters represent their animals, there is more to them than meets the eyes. They each have a different but intense past, and different emotions that conflict with themselves. At the end of the series, you learn that they really craved freedom from not only the curse they had, but also free from themselves and others who have tried to put them down.
Concerns: In this graphic novel, every picture is in black and white. In the images, it looks like Tohru has blonde hair, when she actually has brown hair. Some teenagers might get confused with this difference and may perceive Tohru with blond hair instead of brown because it is not shaded in the story.
Comments: This a funny but also a serious story about finding yourself and how one girl miraculously showed the Souhma family about confidence, courage, accepting yourself and love. Once again, there may be curse words and this graphic novel may not be suitable for kids under 14.